WASHINGTON • The reproductive rights organization Planned Parenthood said Thursday it would spend $20 million to support candidates in eight states this year, but not in Missouri, where Sen. Claire McCaskill faces a tough re-election fight.
The group said it could decide to get involved in more states later this year, but that its first round of states - where it will run advertising and fund door-to-door efforts - are concentrated in states that will help Democrats take control of Congress and, in some cases, also have important gubernatorial races this fall.
McCaskill, D-Mo., supports abortion rights, a key platform of Planned Parenthood. But the state does not have a governor's race this year, and does not provide an opportunity for Democrats to flip a Senate seat. And President Donald Trump, a critic of Planned Parenthood, won the state by more than 18 percentage points in 2016.
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Planned Parenthood said it would initially try to help candidates in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Besides having governor's or Senate races this year, or both, most are also presidential swing states.
"Reproductive rights and health is at stake in this country and has been at stake for years, but especially this year," said Deirdre Schifeling, director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
"We think this is critical, critical for protecting, and hopefully expanding, access to reproductive health care in the states," she said.Â
The Arizona and Nevada targets are Republican Senate seats now held by the retiring Jeff Flake in Arizona and Sen. Dean Heller, who is seeking re-election in Nevada. But in the other six states, Democratic incumbents will be up for re-election.
But senators in other states where Democratic incumbents are in tough battles - McCaskill in Missouri and Sen. Heidi Heitkam in North Dakota among them - weren't included
Asked if that could be due to the group's unpopularity in those states, Schifeling pointed to the success of Planned Parenthood-backed Democratic candidates in Alabama (Sen. Doug Jones) and Virginia (Gov. Ralph Northum) in 2017 as proof that abortion and reproductive rights candidates could win anywhere.Â
She said Planned Parenthood was focusing on "races where we think we can be a decisive factor. We are are going to continue to monitor and look at other races around the country when we get closer to November."